Machine for weaving wire fences.



PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907.

, APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 11

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No. 847,533. PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907.

G. A. WILLMARTH.

MAGHINE FOR WEAVING- WIRE FENCES.

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UNiTnn STATES PATENT curios.

CHARLES A. WILLMARTH,OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO BENJAMIN W. MARVIN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FOR WEAVING WIRE FENCES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 19, 1907.

Application filed September 11, 1905. Serial No- 277.973.

machines for weaving wire fences, and more especially to machines for weaving fences formed of longitudinally-extending strands and cross-stays which are woven together by twisting the two wires forming each strand in one direction, inserting a stay between said wires, and then twisting the wires in the opposite direction to firmly engage each stay and hold the same in place.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and eflicient machine for the purpose, having means for automatically stopping the twisting mechanism when the strands have been given a predetermined numb er of turns, which means may be quickly and easily adjusted to vary the number of turns and which is so constructed that the operator is precluded from starting the mechanism in the wrong direction-that is, the reversal of the twist after the insertion of each stay is Y insured.

It is also an object of the invention to pro vide the device with suitable means for carrying and moving the stay, having adjustable means for autoir atically limiting its move ment to determine and vary the spacing of the stays in the fence, and to provide certain other new and useful features in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as more fully hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device em bodying the invention; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same; Fig. 3, an enlarged transverse section through one side of the frame just at the rear of the carriage, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section through one of the twisters and adjacent parts.

As shown in the drawings, 1 is a suitable supporting-frame, upon which near its forward end are mounted in suitable bearings two transversely-extending shafts 2, each provided with a series of sheaves 3, spaced apart according to the desired spacing of the longitudinal wires or strands 4 of the fence and over which said strands pass and are guided,

each strand consisting of two wires, which are taken from suitable reels (not shown) and first passed through a tension device 5, provided for each strand, consisting of a suitable bracket adjustably secured by a setscrew to a transverse bar 6 on the frame, and upon which bracket is journaled a series of small rolls over and beneath which the wires are passed to create the desired amountof friction and resist the too free passage of said wires. From the tension devices the wires pass beneath the sheaves on the first shaft and then over those on the second shaft, said shafts being provided at one end with-like intermeshing gears 7 to cause the same to tur together at the same speed. I

Mounted in suitable bearings on the frame intermediate its ends is a transverse shaft 8, upon which is adjustably secured a series'of worm-gears 9, in mesh with a series of similar gears 10, each formed with two holes 11, extending longitudinally therethrough and through its extended hub portion 12, through which holes the wires of each strand are passed and forming twisters for the strands. Adjustable bearing-blocks 13are provided to receive and within which the hub portions of the twisters freely turn, and standards 14 are secured to the frame adjacent to the shaft 8, to which standards two parallel horizontally-extending angle-bars 15 are bolted and between which bars the bearing-blocks are supported. Flanges 16 on the blocks extend upwardly and downwardly therefrom at each end in engagement with the bars and setscrews 17, extending through one of the flanges, engage the bars at one side and hold the blocks in any position to which they may be adjusted longitudinally of the bars. A disk 18 is secured by bolts or top screws to the end of the hub of each twister to secure the same within its bearing-block and formed integral with this disk is a tailpiece or spreader 19, having a groove 20 in each edge for the wires, said grooves ending in holes in the disk opposite the holes for the vs ire in the twister.

The shaft Sis driven by 'two belt-pulleys 21 and 22, loosely mounted on the projecting end of said shaft and connected to theshaft to turn the same by means of a clutch 23,

'mitted thereby from either pulley to the shaft, and the twisters will stand still.

. Extending parallel with the projecting end of the shaft 8, upon which the pulleys are mounted, is a cam-shaft 24, which receives a slow motion from the shaft 8 by means of a large gear on its outer end in mesh with a small gear 26 on the twister-shaft 8, and adjustably secured on said cam-shaft are two opposed disks 27, each provided with a cam or lug 28 on its face to engage the end of a shifting lever 29, which projects between said disks. The opposite end of said leveris pivoted to the frame and intermediate its ends to the clutch 23, so that when said clutch is in engagement with one pulley its free end will be in the path of one of the cam-lugs, and when the twister-shaft has been turned a certain number of revolutions to put the required number of twists in the wire said cam or lug will engage said lever and move the same to mid-position, thus moving the clutch out of contact with the pulley and stopping the twisting operation.

30 is a spacer-carriage or movable support for the cross-stays or pickets of the fence, said carriage consisting of a top plate 31, formed with a series of upwardly-extending fingers 32 along its forward edge, between which the wires pass from the twisters, and vertical ends extending downward adjacent to each side bar of the frame, to the inner face of which bar a track or way 33 is secured to re ceive a rib 34 on said ends adapted to slide therein. The fingers are evenly spaced throughout the length of the carriage, preferably one inch between centers, and thus form a scale to indicate the spacing of the strands.

Bearings are provided on the frame for a transverse driving-shaft 35, which is provided with a driving-pulley 36 at one end and intermediate its ends with a pinion 37, loosely mounted thereon in mesh with a gear 38on a counter-shaft 39. Motion is trans mitted from said driving-shaft to the pinion through a clutch 40, splined on the shaft to slide longitudinally thereof into engagement with teeth formed on the hub of said pinion, and from said counter-shaft motion is transmitted to a rock-shaft 41 by means of a pinion 42 on the counter-shaft and a large gear 43 on the rock-shaft. Secured to the rockshaft inside the frame, near each side thereof, is a rocker-arm 44, each of wh ich arms is connected to one end of the carriage by a rod 45, so that when the clutch is in operative po sition the rock-shaft will be turned and the carriage drawn rearwardly 011 its ways, each arm being provided. with a series of openings for the engagement of said rods in order that the distance which the carriage will be moved by said arms may be varied.

The travel of the carriage is automatically limited by providing a shifting lever 46, which is pivoted to the frame at its rear end, and extending forwardly beneath the clutch is pivotally attached thereto intermediate its ends. The forward end of said lever extends beneath the Carriage and. beyond the twisters, and to this end is attached a coiled spring 47 to normally hold the lever shifted to a position to hold the clutch in operative position. To the top of the side bar of the frame opposite the forward end of said lever is secured a plate 48, having a slot 49 extend ing from near its inner edge and forward end diagonally across the same to near its outer edge and rear end where the slot is formed with an offset 50. An operating-bar 51 is pivotally'attaehed at one end to the lever near its forward end, and at its opposite end said bar is provided with a pin 52 to engage the slot 49. An operating-rod 53 is pivotally secured at one end to the carriage, and an adjustable book 54 is secured to said rod to engage the operating-bar as the carriage nears the rear end of its stroke and swing said bar rearwardly, forcing the pin 52 rearwardly in its slot, and thus, by reason of the diagonal direction in which said slot extends, shifting the lever 46 to disengage the (lUf-(fh 40 and stop the transmission of motion from the drivingshaft. When said pin reaches the rear end of its slot, it drops into the offset 50, and thus the shifting-lever is locked in this position. On a projecting end of the rod;- shaft 41 is secured a handle 55, by means of whirh the operator may turn said shaft barkward when the (lutch has been thrown out by the rearward movement of the rarriage, as destrihed, to return the carriage to the forward end of its movement.

Mounted 'in suitalile bearings on the frame to slide transversely thereof is a shifting-rod 56, provided with a handle at one end and pivotally attaahed to the shifting lever 29 at its opposite end, and pivoted intermediate its ends upon a rross-lar of the frame opposite the O])GI'8.fl11QlT&1 51 is a ro ker-l3ar 57, having a slot in its rear end to rereive a pin 58 on the rod 56 and formed with a forked forward end 59 to receive and engage a pin 60 on the l" ar 51, when said l: ar is moved into locked position.

At the extreme rear end of the frame is mounted a transverse shaft 61, having secured thereon a drum 62, upon whieh the fenae is wound after passing over a supporting-roller 68 on the frame at the rear of the counter-shaft 39. To turn this drum and wind the fenr e thereon as the arriage moves rearwardly, a pinion 64 is secured on the end of the drum-shaft in mesh with a gear-'65,

loosely mounted on a stub shaftfifi, and a lever 67, also loosely mounted on the stubshaft, is provided with a weighted pawl 68 to engage the gear and turn the same when said lever is moved forward by a connecting-rod 69, attached to its lower endat one end. and to a downwardly-extending arm on the rock-shaft 4.1 at its opposite end.

The roll of fence constantly increases in diameter as the fence is wound thereon, and as the drum will be turned the same distance each time by the lever 67 it is necessary to make provision for such variation. For this purpose the said lever is slotted longitudinally to receive a stud -bolt 71 on a block 72, through an opening in which block the rod 69 passes, and said bolt is adjustably secured in said slot by a hand wheel 7 3 on its screwthreaded outer end engaging theouter sideof the lever and clamping the block thereto. The

point of attachment of the rod to the lever may thus be quickly and easily changed to vary the throw of the lever. To obviate the necessity for changing this adjustment often, the rod'69 is extended some distance through the block in which it is free to slide longitudinally, and between said block and a nut 74 on position shown in Fig. 1, its pawl slipping over the teeth of the gear, and the fence is prevented from unwinding by a spring-pawl 77 onthe frame engagingsaid gear.

The parts being inthe position shown, with a stay 78 in place between the diverging wires of the strands, the shaft 8 will be driven by the pulley 22 and the twisters rotated to twist the wires together, the stay and fence being carried 'rearwardly by the carriage at the same time. When the required number of twists have been put in the 1 wires, the cam 28 will engage the end of the lever 29 and shift the clutch to mid-position, and at the same time the movement of the carriage will bestopped by the shifting of the lever 46. The operator by means of, the handle 55 may then run the carriage back to the forward end of its movement with. the

fingers 32 adjacent to thetwist'ers, and as the cam-disks 27 maybe secured to the shaft in'a position to throw the clutch and stop the l twisters in any desired-position by reason of vertical alinement, and the next stay may be easily inserted between the diverging Wires at the rear side of the fingers. To again start the twisters and carriage, the operator will shift the rod 56, which by reason of its pivotal attachment to the lever 29 will move the clutch 23 into engagement with the pulley 21 and cause the twisters to be driven in the opposite direction to that in which they were just previously turned, and by reason of the engagement of the pin 58 on said rod with the end of the rocker-bar 57 said bar will be turned, and the in 60 on the o crating-bar 51 being within the forked end 0 said rockerbar said operating-bar will. be moved and its pin disengaged from the offset 50 in the slot 4-9, thus unlocking said operating-bar and permitting the spring 47 to throw the clutch 40 into engagement with its pinion. When the twisting operation is sto ped by the engagement of the cam 28 wit the end of the lever 29, said cam projection remains in contact with said lever until the lever is shifted by the operator, and therefore said lever can only be shifted toward the opposite camdisk, thus insuring the reversal of motion of the twisters.

The number of turns which shall be made may be quickly and easily changed by shift-- ing the cam-disks on their shaft to change the relative positions of the cam projections thereon, and the spacing between the strands may be changed as desired by shifting the worm-gears 9 on their shaft and slackening the set-screws 17, so that the twisters may be correspondingly moved between their supporting-bars 15.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a fence-loom, the combination of a series of tw sters having extended hub portions provided with longitudinal holes for the passage of the wires to be twisted, standards on the machine-frame, angle-bars secured to the standards with their adjacent faces in parallelism, a series of bearing-blocks ad j ustably supported between said angle-bars to receive the hubs of the twisters which turn freely therein, flanges on said blocks engaging the edges of the angle-bars, set-screws extending through said flanges and engaging the bars to adjustably secure the blocks in place, and a tail-piece secured. to the end of each hub opposite the twister to engage the block and hold the hub therein and formed with grooves along its edges for the wires.

2. In a fence-loom, the combination with the supporting-frame, of a transverse shaft mounted in bearings on said frame, a series of twisters supported. on the frame adjacent to said shaft, worm-gears to transmit motion from said shaft to the twisters, a pulley the shafts 8 and 24bemggeared together said loosely mounted on said shaft, a clutch to twisters are stopped withtheir holes 11 in i'connect the pulley with the shaft. a earn- ICS "shaft, gears for transmitting motion from the transverse shaft to the cam-shaft, and a cam on said shaft to operate the clutch.

3. In a fence-loom, the combination with the supporting-frame, of a transverse shaft mounted on said frame, a series of twisters having teeth on their periphery, worm-gears on said shaft to engage the teeth on the twisters, two pulleys loosely mounted on said transverse shaft, a clutch movable longitudinally on the shaft into or out of engagement with either pulley, a shifting lever for the clutch, a cam-shaft extending parallel with. the transverse shaft, gears on said shafts to transmit motion from one to the other, opposed cam-disks adjustably secured to the cam-shaft between which the end of the operating-lever projects, said cams being adapted to engage and move the lever to disconnect the clutch from the pulleys and stop the twisters, and a hand-lever for moving said clutch to throw the same into operative position.

4. In a fence-loom, the combination with the supporting-frame and a series of twisters mounted thereon, of a carriage movable on the frame toward and from the twisters, a transverse drivin g-shaft on the frame, a rockshaft, arms on the rock-shaft, rods connecting the ends of the. arms with the carriage, a pinion loosely mounted on the driving-shaft, a clutch to connect said pinion to said shaft, gears for transmitting motion from the pinion to the rock-shaft, and means operated by the movement of the carriage for throwing the clutch out of engagement with the pinion to stop the movement of the carriage.

5. In a fence-loom, the combination. with a series of twisters, of a shaft for transmitting motion to said twisters, a clutch for transmitting motion to the shaft, means for automatically moving the clutch to stop the transmission of motion to the twisters, a carriage adaptedto move toward and from the twisters, means for moving said. carriage away from the twisters, a clutch to transmit motion to said means, mears moved by the movement of the carriage for throwing the last-named clutch to stop the carriage, and a shifting rod simultaneously operating each mears for moving each clutch, to throw both clutches into operative position.

6. In a fence-loom, the combination with a series of twisters, of a shaft to transmit motion to said twisters, two pulleys loosely mounted on said shaft at a distance apart and formed with clutch-teeth on the adj acent ends of their hubs, a clutch splined on the shaft between said pulleys adapted to be moved into engagement with either or out of engagement with both, a lever to shift said clutch, a cam-shaft extending parallel with the other shaft, a large gear on the camshaft in engagement with a pinion on the other shaft, opposed cam-disks on the camshaft, a cam projection in each disk to engage the projecting end of the lever and throw the clutch out of engagement with both pulleys, and an operating-rod to shift the lever, whereby the lever is prevented by the engagement of one of said projections, from being moved by the re d toward the disk carrying that lug and thus the clutch is prevented from being reengaged with the pulley from which it has just been disengaged by said projection.

7. In a fence-loom, the combination with a supporting-frame, of a series of twisters and means for turning the same, a track on the frame, a carriage movable toward and from the twisters 011 said track, a transverse driving-shaft on the frame, a transverserockshaft, arms on the rock-shaft, rods connecting the ends of said arms with the carriage, a pinion loose on said driving-shaft, a train of gearing to transmit motion from the pinion to the rock-shaft, a clutch on. the drivingshaft to secure the pinion to said shaft, a lever to move said clutch, a spring to normally hold the clutch in operative position, an opcrating-bar attached to the free end of the lever for moving the clutch, a rod attached to the-carriage, and a hook on the rod to engage the operating-bar.

S. In a fence-loom, the combination with the supporting-frame, of a series of twisters, a transverse shaft, worm-gears on the shaft to turn the twisters, a clutch to transmit motion to the shaft, means for automatically moving said clutch out of operative position, a shifting-rod to move the clutch into operative position, a reciprocable carriage, means for moving said carriage, a clutch to control said means, a lever to move the clutch and. stop the carriage, an operating-bar pivotally ,attached to the free end of said lever to move the lever, a spring to move the lever in the opposite direction, locking means for said bar, means on the carriage for moving the bar into locked position, and a lever connected to the shifting-rod turned thereby to unlock the operating-bar.

9. In a fence-100111, the combination with a series of twisters and means for turning the same, of a reciprocable carriage, a drivingshaft, a rock-shaft, a train of gears connecting said drive and rock shafts, a clutch to disconnect the gearing from the drive-shaft, upwardly-extending rocker-arms on the rockshaft, rods connecting said arms with the carri age, a downwardly-extending rocker-arm on the end of said rock-shaft, a drum upon which the fence is adapted to be wound, a pinion on the shaft of said drum, a stubshaft, a gear loose on said stub-shaft in engagement with the pinion, a swinging arm loose on the stub-shaft, a pawl carried by said arm to engage and turn the gear in one direction, a spring-pawl to prevent the gear from turning in the opposite direction, a

block adjustably secured to the lower end of said arm, a rod passing through an opening in-said block at one end and pivotally attached to the downwardly-extending rockerarm at its opposite end, a nut on the projecting end of the rod and a nut to engage one side of the block, and a spring sleeved on the rod between the opposite side of the block and the nut on the end of the rod.

10. In a fence-loom, the combination with a supporting-frame, of a transverse shaft mounted in bearings intermediate the ends of the frame, standards on the frame adjacent to said shaft, parallel supporting bars secured to said standards, bearing-blocks adjustably secured between said bars, twisters formed with peripheral teeth and having extended hubs to engage the bearings, wormgears on the transverse shaft to engage said teeth, tail-pieces secured to the ends of the hubs and having grooves for the wires passing through the twisters, parallel shafts mounted in the forward end of the frame, gears connecting said shafts, sheaves on said shafts, tension devices on the forward end of the frame provided with two or more parallel friction-rolls, two pulleys loosely mounted on the transverse twister-shaft, a clutch splined on the shaft between said pulleys, a shiftinglever pivotally attached at one end to the frame and intermediate its ends to the" clutch, a cam-shaft, cams on said shaft to engage the free end of the shifting-lever, a handled operating-rod attached'to said shiftinglever and extending across the frame, tracks on the frame, a carriage on said tracks, a driving-shaft, a clutch on said driving-shaft, a pinion adapted to be engaged by the clutch, a rock-shaft, gears connecting the rock-shaft and pinion, upwardly-extending arms on the rock-shaft, rods connecting the arms with the carriage, a downwardly-extending arm on one end of the rock-shaft, a handle-lever on the rock-shaft, a drum mounted in bearings on the rear end of the frame, gears for turning the drum, a swinging arm, a pawl carried by said arm to engage and turn the gears, a rod adjustably attached at one end to said swinging arm and at its opposite end to the downwardly-extending rocker-arm a long lever pivotally attached to the clutch on the driving-shaft, a spring to move said lever in one direction, an operating-bar attached at one end to said lever, a late on the frame having a diagonal groove ormed with an offset at one end, a pin on the operatingbar to engage the groove, a rod on the carriage, a hook on the rod to engage the operating-bar, and a lever pivoted intermediate its ends on the frame and attached at one end to the handled operating-rod and adapted to engage the operating-bar at its opposite end. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. WILLMARTH. Witnesses THOS. G. LONGSTAFF,

OTTO F. BARTHEL. 

